Tag: currency

The ECB decision bears no major surprises. Draghi did not contradict market expectations of an extension of the QE program to be announced in December. Such an extension has thus become even more likely. I do not expect a reduction in the monthly purchases by the ECB. Such a step would disappoint market expectations and could trigger undesired market reactions. The latest economic news are not encouraging and give little cause for a fundamental change in monetary policy.… [continue reading]

In the latest Spotlight, DIW President Marcel Fratzscher explains why helicopter money offers the possibility to “circumvent” the banking system and make loans and funding directly available to households and private companies, which would help the ECB to fulfill their price stability mandate again.… [continue reading]

The German Constitutional Court has ruled against the European Central Bank’s pledge to buy potentially unlimited quantities of distressed eurozone countries’ government bonds, and has called on the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to confirm its decision. Until that happens, the “outright monetary transactions” (OMT) scheme is effectively dead, weakening the ECB’s ability to act as an effective and credible financial-market backstop at a time when European governments … [continue reading]

In recent days, Germany’s representative on the European Central Bank’s governing council has expressed strong disagreement with the ECB’s decision on November 7 to cut its benchmark interest rate. Now the European Commission has opened an investigation into whether or not Germany’s huge current-account surplus is causing economic damage in the European Union and beyond. This investigation and criticism of Germany’s export-based growth model has incited outrage in … [continue reading]